Q and A: Track & Field Athlete Shene Davis

Feb 04, 2009

Feb. 4, 2009

By Keenan Bowen, EWU Sports Information

Sophomore Shene Davis is getting things done in a big way as of late. The track and field athlete from Yakima, Wash., has been named one of two Eastern Washington University Scholar-Athletes for the month of January and has already qualified for the Big Sky Conference Championships in the 60 meters and the triple jump.

Earlier this season at the EWU Candy Cane Invitational, Davis qualified for the conference championships in the 60 meters and the triple jump. She had a time of 7.18 in the 55 meters to ranks seventh in school history and qualify her in the 60 meters. She had a triple jump mark of 38-3 1/4 to qualify for the conference championships.

At the Cougar Indoor Invitational in Pullman, Wash., Davis had a career-best jump of 38-3 1/2 to rank third on Eastern&rsquo;s all-time best list behind the 38-7 1/2 mark of Teanna Meinhold and the school-record of 39-2 1/2 set by Taneka Sauls in 1998.

Davis maintains a 3.579 GPA while majoring in math education. She was also named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team last season.

The Eastern Washington University track and field teams will travel to the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho, to compete Friday (Feb. 6) at the 34th annual Vandal Indoor and Saturday (Feb. 7) at the Runner&rsquo;s Soul Open. The Big Sky Conference Championships will take place February 27-28 in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Q: Who have been the most influential people in your academic career?

A: "That is really a hard question. I&rsquo;ve always been a very self-motivated person and am very driven to do well in school. If anyone has had the most influence on me it would have to be my mom and grandma because they are two very brilliant and strong women, and I guess my drive to succeed comes from them."

Q: Who has been your favorite professor at EWU and why?

A: "It's hard to say who would be my favorite professor because I've had so many and each are completely different people with different teaching styles. I would have to say Bradley Fillmore for biology, Melissa McDirmid for math and Robert Bartlett for African-American studies have been my favorites so far. They always know how to make class interesting by sharing silly stories and are all very knowledgeable in their subjects, which makes learning much easier."

Q: What do you like best, indoor or outdoor track season?

A:"Indoor is fun -- I love running the 60 meters and anytime I get to jump is awesome. But I love being outside and jumping. Running track indoors can get really stuffy and muggy, but being outside never gets stuffy. I also like it because it&rsquo;s easier on your body when running certain events."

Q: You recently qualified for the Big Sky Championships in two events, how does that feel?

A: "It&rsquo;s a good feeling of relief to qualify this early in the season and it makes jumping and sprinting less stressful. It gives you more time to try to perfect certain aspects of a jump or race without feeling pressured."

Q: Who have been the most influential people in your athletic career?

A:"The most influential people in my athletic career have been my coaches, my parents and my teammates. All of these people have helped push and motivate me to do better in track and field. Without their support, I don't think I would have made it this far."

Q: What is your best track and field moment?

A:"I've been doing track for six years now and every year something really great happens. So that is really a hard question because I have so many great moments that have happened to me or just watching or cheering on a teammate. I can&rsquo;t pick just one."

Q: What is your favorite aspect of track and field?

A: "I love so many things about track and field -- it&rsquo;s hard to pick one. I love workouts, even though they are scary sometimes because you know you&rsquo;re going to be so tired. But they feel so good when you&rsquo;re done and just to know that you potentially are getting better makes it worth it. I love competing, racing and jumping to see how far you can get -- testing every ability you have and pushing yourself to points you never could imagine you would achieve. I love the people, the competitors are so different from other sports -- they are friendly and some will even help you if you ask. I love my teammates because they cheer you on and care about how you do."

Q: What do you attribute to your academic success?

A:"My personality, drive and determination have all helped my academic success, along with help from professors, teammates and friends."

Q: What are your goals for the remaining indoor season? What about the outdoor season?

A: "My goals for the rest of the indoor season are to jump farther and run faster! I also want to qualify for the Big Sky Championships in the 200 meters. For outdoor, I want to qualify in the 100 and the 200, along with the triple jump. I would also like to score in the top five in the triple jump and want to jump 40 feet by the end of outdoor."